Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Socal Rally Day One 5-21-2008

Day one started at 0530 AM. After planning and packing, the time had finally came. If you remember, Wednesday the 21st was rainy and cold. I borrowed some raingear from

Randy, it ended up saving me. I made it to payson in the pouring rain. It was still pretty warm and the only parts of me that were wet were my hands at this point. However I found the water on the freeway getting pretty deep, I don't know if it was for sure, but my rear tire felt like it would start floating on the water, so I stopped in Payson for a bit to let the rain die down. It didn't slow much and I was on the road again in pouring rain. By now, temperatures had dropped and I gained a little altitude. I stopped again in Scipio, this time out of neccessity to warm up. After another 30 mins or so, I hit the road again. This was the worst stretch of the trip between Scipio and Beaver. Usually when it's cold, I can warm my hands on the engine, but with my gloves being so wet, it didn't help at all. Coming over the mountain pass into Beaver it began to snow and the road signs were iced over.

While planning everything, Ashley really wanted me to drive the Jeep and trailer the bike. While riding in these conditions, I really wish I had listened to her. I stopped in Beaver at a cafe and drank four cups of coffee to warm up. I sat there and shivered with my teeth chattering for about an hour. I called Ashley to let her know I was OK and that she was right, I should've trailered. I called Dan and told him I'd be delayed. I called a few other people trying to make more time to sit in the warm diner. It finally stopped raining and I decided I'd get back on the road. I expected some rain, but not this much and not for it to be that cold. I didn't take long before it started raining again. And again I stopped in Parowan. This was a large truck stop, I began to look for gloves. Although I was cold allover, my hands were what were making me the most uncomfortable. I found some cotton jersey gloves and a pair of the rubber coated chemical gloves. I'm the kind of guy that can handle being cold OR being wet, but not BOTH. I paid $10 for the gloves, it was the best $10 I ever spent. I made it to Cedar City and didn't need to stop, my hands were nice and dry, cold but dry I rolled on and somewhere near St. George, it stopped raining. I made it to the Burninghams (My in-laws for those that don't know) and dried the clothers that I had on (they got a little wet) My mother in-law fed me a bowl of chilie and I took a hot shower. Their House was just finished and I was the first to use the "man shower" the House is beautiful. I'll put pictures of it up on the family blog. After an hour or two I decided to roll on, I was only half way there and needed to hurry since it took me 8 hours to get to St. George. The rest of the ride was pleasant and warm, the only complaint was strong winds through the Mojave Desert. The winds actually blew a Semi over and the road was shut down for about 30 Mins. After that I made it to Barstow, filled up and then met Dan in Riverside. We got a bite to eat at Denny's (and a hot cup of tea, Although it wasn't cold and raining, I still couldn't warm up from the cold ride) Once we got to Dan's place, we parked the bikes in the garage, mine smelled like burning hair, the bike was filthy with mud all over it. These pictures really don't do it justice.

I was nice to have the ride over with and be able to relax. I fell asleep very quickly, unfortunatly morning came very quickly. Here's where I slept for the time down there, with the exception of Day 2 in Monterey.

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